List printing apparatus



Dec. 19, 1950 0. c. MOLL I LIST PRINTING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1Filed April 50, 1946 [NVENTOR 05mm (7 Mail ATTORNEY o. CJMOLL LISTPRINTING APPARATUS Dec. 19, 19 50 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 50, 1946lllilll INVENTO R ash/1'11 6M0 ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 19, 1 950 UNITEDSTATES ATENT OFFICE 7 Claims. I

The present invention relates to a registering or recording apparatusand more particularly to a mechanism or apparatus adapted to be used forprinting lists of articles.

The invention is especially useful to housewives. Generally a housewifeprepares a list of items required for replenishing her food supply bymerely writing the items in longhand on a scrap of paper. Frequently thehousewife defers writing an article on her list immediately upon theneed for replenishment becoming apparent, but intends to later note theitem when she has located a pad and pencil; as a result many items arefrequently forgotten. Previous attempts to minimize such instances offorgetfulness have provided a connected pad and pencil adapted to behung close at hand in the kitchen, or have provided a board carryinprinted legends with holes for receiving peg opposite the various itemsnoted thereon. These previous devices still offer objections. Forexample, with the pad and pencil combination the housewife stillfrequently defers noting an item immediately upon the need forreplenishment becoming apparent; the board and peg combination is notintended to be carried on a shopping trip but a separate list must beprepared from the data on the board and then the pegs removed forfurther use. Other devices and attempts to solve the problem still lackone or more desirable features.

The present invention aims to provide an automatic shopping list printerwhich prints desired items on a sheet of paper merely by pressing asingle button, push rod or other similar means. The various rods orbutton corresponding to different items are pushed or actuated as theneed for the article becomes apparent. When the housewife is ready to goto a store the buttons or plungers are readily released and a printedshopping list removed from the mechanism or apparatus; it is notnecessary that the housewife copy the data ofi in longhand onto aseparate shopping list. The invention further contemplates the provisionof a registering apparatus or automatic memorandum pad adapted to printa particular brand name together with the item desired so that insteadof merely the word bread appearing on a list it will be seen as JonesBread; this latter feature is most desirable from an advertisinstandpoint.

An object of the present invention is to pro vide a new and improvedlist printing apparatus.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a shopping listprinter which is adapted to supply a large number of lists beforerefilling.

Another object of the invention i to provide an improved list printingapparatus adapted to print Words by actuating a rod or plunger.

Another object of the invention is to provide a new and improved listprinting mechanism which incorporates a novel method of advertismg.

Other and further objects of the invention will be obvious upon anunderstanding of the i1- lustrative embodiment about to be described, orwill be indicated in the appended claims, and various advantages notreferred to herein will ccur to one skilled in the art upon employmentof the invention in practice.

A preferred embodiment of the invention has been chosen for purposes ofillustration and description and is shown in the accompanying drawingsforming a part of the specification, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view, partially broken away, illustrating apreferred embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional View taken along the line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken alon the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view takenalong the line 44 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view illustrating a modified form of theinvention;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view of a form of printing strip or sheet;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view illustrating another modifiedform of the invention; and

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary sectional view illustrating a still furthermodified form of the invention.

Referring more particularly to Fig. 1 of the drawings, and describingenerally the preferred embodiment shown therein, there is illustrated abase i with extensions 2 extending outwardly through openings in thesides thereof. A cover member 4 having apertures 5 through which legendsor printing 7 may be viewed, is pivotally secured adjacent one end 8thereof to the base I. The extensions 2 are the outer ends or extensionsof plungers or push rods l0 and when they are pressed inwardly withrespect to the apparatus a representation or printing will be formed ona sheet or web of paper II which passes through the machine and isremovable by pulling it outwardly from the lower or front end l3 0f themechanism. Each of the push rods or plungers IE]. and their extensions 2corresponds to a definite legend or indication l appearing through anaperture 5 in the cover member 4;

that is, the actuation of any particular plunger by pressing itsextension inwardly causes a particular reproduction to appear on thestrip of paper II. After the desired items have been printed on thestrip of paper I I the plungers may be moved outwardly by actuating alever I4 located at the front of the mechanism, the paper strip or web II may be pulled out of the machine, torn off against a cutting edge I5,and utilized as a shopping list. The various parts and their operationswill now be described in greater detail.

The base portion I comprises (Figs. 1 to 3) a lower surface or portionI6 having longitudinally disposed rows of spaced, upwardly extendingguiding projections I! and I8 located adjacent the outer edges and thecentral portion thereof. Corresponding outer projections ll and innerprojections i8 are preferably spaced directly opposite each other sothat upwardly extending walls IQ of the outer projections Il locate andguide the outer ends of rods or plungers I6 and the upwardly extendingwalls of the inner projections I8 locate and guide the inner portions ofplungers I0. As a plunger moves in and out it is constrained againsttransverse or lateral movement along the surface portion It by theconfining and guiding walls I9 and 2B of the projections l1 and Hi.

The number of guiding grooves or projections utilized with a registeringapparatus will depend upon the number of legends or items to be shown onthe cover 4. One plunger corresponds to one legend or other designationsvisible at the top of the cover portion 4, the total number ofindications and plungcrs being determined by the total numberof itemswhich it is'desired to have available for printing a shopping list. Ininstances where the base is made of synthetic molding material such ashardrubben'urea resins,'etcetera, the projections may be molded integralwith the base.

The printing operation referred to in the previous general descriptionof the apparatus is preferably achieved, in "the preferred embodiment,upon upward movement or lateral translation of a plunger or rod'memberas the plunger is pushed inwardly. This transverse or lateral movementmay be achieved'by longitudinally disposed'raised strips 22 and 23having'outwardly inclined surfaces 24'and25 which are adapted tocooperate with surfaces of the push-rod members II]. The surfaces 24 and25 maybe at any angle,'depending upon the rate which'it is desirable tohave the plungers IE1 rise upwardly during their inward movement; an'angle of approximately is shown'in Fig. 3 but; an angle of for example,could be utilized. The longitudinal strips 22 and 23 arealso shownformed integral with the base I; forming them in this manneris desirablefor itfacilitates manufacturing operations and decreases costs ofproduction due to permitting molding them integrally with the base.

Theplungers If shown in the spaces between guiding projections ii and I8of the inner and outer rows may also be formed from suitable plasticmold'ng material and are shown provided with recesses'ZB and'Zl adaptedto receive therein the longitudinally disposed strips 22 and 23.Inclined faces-29 and 30 of the recesses'rest and slide againsttheinclined surfaces 24 and 25 of the longitudinally disposed strips.Substantially vertically-disposed faces or stop portions'32 and 33 ofthe-rod members cooperate'with complementary vertically disposed facesor stop portions 4 on the strips 22 and 23 to limit the extent ofoutward movement of the rod members.

It will be noted that the outwardly projecting ends 2 of alternate rodor plunger members I0 are ofiset or staggered with respect to eachother. This facilitates operation of any particular rod member byprovidin more room for a finger to touch and actuate it; interferencewith adjacent plunger-s is minimized.

The rod members Ill are shown normally urged outwardly by springs orother resilient means 34. The springs 34 are preferably molded into thebase or secured to it by a pin or rivet 35 and may be secured to a rodmember I by pins 31. If

desired, the resilient means 34 may project up- Wardly into a recess(Fig. 5) in a rod member instead of being secured to the rod member by apin or rivet. As a plunger is pressed inwardly the resilient means 38yields or stretches and when the resetting lever [4 (Fig. l) is operatedthe spring 34 urges a member Ill outwardly.

The upper surface of a rod member or plunger is preferably knurled,scored or roughened for facilitating printing or reproducing operations,as will be hereinafter described.

Adjacent one end of the base I is shown recess 33 adapted to receive andretain a roll of paper 38 and a roll of carbon paper 4|, the rolls beingmounted upon spindles or axles 42 and 43, respectively, the axles beinglocated at the lower ends of slots 44 and '45. As shown, the webs orstrips 5 and I2 extend outwardly from the rolls between the base i andcover 3 with the paper web I I being located beneath the carbon paperweb I2. The positions of these two webs could be reversed, as will beclear from the ensuing'description, so that the paper web it would belocated uppermost. The webs or strips mayrest upon the upper surfaces ofthe rod members or plungers I0. It will be clear that it is notnecessary to use rolls 'or paper which extend across the entire width ofthe apparatus but instead, each roll could be of approximately half ofthe width shown so that a separate strip would be located at each sideof'the mechanism.

referably the plane of the base I is slightly inclined so that itemsshown at the cover lmay be more readly viewed when the-device is on ahorizontal surface. Also, 'the base may be provided with recessesadjacent each c'ornerthereo'f adapted to receive rubber or felt inserts41 to minimize marring or scratching a surface upon which the mechanismis placed.

As a plunger or rod-member I0 is moved inwardly it rides up along theinclined surfaces 24 and 25 of'the longitudinally disposed portions 22and 23 and the upper surface of the member comes into contact with theweb II of memorandum paper. Continued inward-movement of the rod memberand consequent elevation thereof brings the carbon paper I2into contactwith the downwardly extending letters or characters of a printing stripor lineof type-49 carried by the cover member G. The 'charactersof theprinting strip 49 thus press'against the sheet of carbon paper I2 andcause a representation of the characters to be'formed upon the sheet ofmemorandum paper II. Therod member ID is preferably pressed inwardlywith sufiicient force to wedge it firmly into position-between thesurfaces of'the longitudinal strips and the under surfaces of a printingstrip. The knurled, scored or otherwise roughened upper surface of arod'member facilitates reproduction of characters 'or letters upon thestrip 'of' memorandum paper; apparentlythepaper is forced against orinto the spaces of a knurled surface with a yielding effect not normallypresent with a smooth surface. Each of the printing strips 49corresponds generally with the particular legend or indication locatedover it in the cover member, but also may include the particular brandor trade name of a given manufacturer. The printin strips 49 may eitherextend all the way across the face of the device, being held at eitherside by slots 5|, or a strip may be inserted in each side held by slotsin similar manner. The strips may all be positioned in a suitable manneron one carrier sheet, or each strip may be formed separately. Forexample, if the word salt is visible through an aperture 5 in the covermember 4, the printing sheet may carry the Words Does Salt so that whenthe plunger corresponding to the word salt is actuated there will beprinted upon the shopping list the words Does Salt. No advertising needappear on an index sheet 50 as such is frequently objected to by a user.A memorandum sheet removed from the machine provides the firstappearance of advertising matter confronting the housewife; advertisingon the memorandum sheet is not generally objectionable since it is notexposed to view except when removed. Since a plunger r rod memberremains inwardly after being actuated, the housewife is able todetermine at a glance what items have been noted on the memorandumsheet.

The term printing strip i intended to denote any kind of material havingletters or characters projecting out of the plane thereof suitable forforming representations thereof on a sheet of memorandum paper. Examplesof ordinary printing strips with letters projecting out of the planethereof at one side are those generally utilized with commerciallyavailable business machines for printing the addresses of magazinesubscribers. Separate strips corresponding to the legends visible at thecover 4 may be utilized or the desired legends may all be formed on asingle large sheet. In either of the two above cases the printin stripor strips may be inserted through an opening or slot 5! accessibleadjacent the pivoted end of the cover 4. The rod member becomes wedgedbetween the fiat portion of the projections and the paper It, untilreset by cam 55. Spring 34, while strong enough to force the membersback into their original position against friction, is not strong enoughto move the members when they are wedged above the fiat portions ofprojections 23. In some instances it may be desirable to form theletters or characters, or other representations to be printed, directlyupon the underside of the cover member 4; when such is done theapertures 5 need not extend entirely through the cover member 4. Anysuitable means may be used to retain the printing strips in the slot 51and in Fig. 1 this is achieved by a spacer member 52 and screw 53accessible from the underside of the cover 4.

There may be utilized (Fig. 6) a printing strip or larger printing sheethaving characters 46 such as the general terms Bread or Gasket formed atthe normally exposed side thereof and characters 48 such as Jones Breador XYZ Gasket projectin outwardly from the printing side of the sheet.Printing sheets or sets of printing strips of this sort, includingappropriate items, could be sold for use as grocery shopping lists,automobile parts lists, furniture lists, etc. It will be clear that thepresent apparatus is useful in 6.. fields other than merely shoppinglists for housewives.

After a housewife has noted all the items desired and is ready to removea shopping list from the mechanism, the lever [4 at the front of themechanism may be rotated. Movement of this lever is effective to turn aresetting shaft or cam 55 located intermediate and adjacent the innerends of the plungers or rod members I 0. The resetting shaft pressesoutwardly against the inner ends of the rod members It and is effectiveto free the upper surfaces thereof from engagement with the underside ofthe paper strips and the printing strip characters. When the uppersurfaces are thus freed from engagement the resilient members 34connected with the rod members urge them to their outermost positions inreadiness for printing a succeeding shopping list.-

Thus, when the resettin shaft 55 has been actuated the shopping list H,together with a strip of carbon paper l2, may be pulled out of themachine and torn ofi against the edge l5 of the cover 4. This edge 15may be made sharp to facilitate tearing of the paper strips or may havea metal insert with a sawtooth edge. Finger recesses 5! in the base areadapted to receive the fingers of a user to thereby facilitate graspingand removal of strips of paper from the mechanism. Both the paper stripH and carbon web 12 may be removed from the machine, the length ofcarbon paper bein discarded in each instance. Each time a printedshopping list is removed from the mechanism, fresh lengths of paper IIand !2 are pulled into it in position for printing a subsequent list.

It may be preferable in some instances to renew the rolls of paper andcarbon paper by returning the pad to a merchant, who will refill themachine or replace the rolls 40 and 4 I. With this expedient themerchant may use rolls of paper carrying his own advertising 58 and canmaintain the printing inserts up to date. A look and keyhole 59 may beprovided at the front of the device to permit opening of the device onlyby the merchant in the event that this feature is desired. If thisfeature is not considered desirable the lock can be omitted and the usermay supply his own paper rolls.

In Fig. 5 there is shown a modified form of the invention wherein theplunger or rod member We has the printing strip or legend 49a carried byor formed on the upper surface thereof. With this modification theprinting strips carried by the cover may be omitted. As the plunger ofFig. 5 is pressed inwardly the printing strip or legend at the uppersurface thereof approaches the memorandum paper or carbon paper,depending upon which web of paper is located next to the upper surfaceof the plunger. As the plunger presses against the papers arepresentation of the legend is formed on the memorandum paper. Whilethe legend Does Salt in Fig. 5 is shown right side up and reading fromleft to right in its normal and usual arrangement it will be understoodthat the letters of the particular words or word may be reversed orinverted so that the legend printed on a strip of paper will be easilyreadable in its normal manner.

In Fig. 7 there is illustrated a modified form" of the invention whereinthe letters of a word project downwardly as indicated at 5 l. A button 762 may be pressed downwardly in opposition to a spring 64. Uponreleasing the button 62 the spring 54 fiies upwardly to momentarilypress a sheet of carbon paper 65 and memorandum paper enace 66 againstthe letters M to form a representation thereof on the memorandum paper65. *The spring .64 may be of the type which is double acting in that asthe button 62 is pressed downwardly theouter end of the spring flexes orsnaps about the bent portions 61 to fly upwardlyagainst the sheets ofpaper prior to release of the button; when the button is released it.flies upwardly and the spring 64 again snaps back into the positionshown in Fig. 7.

In Fig. .8 there is shown another modified form of the invention whereina flexibly mounted printing strip 59 is forced downwardly in oppositionto a torque spring 70 to press the letters "H at the underside thereofagainst the sheets of carbon paper 12 and memorandum paper 13. Whenpressure is removed from the printing strip the torque spring causes itto fiy upwardly out of engagement with the paper. In this instance alsothe upper surface of the printing strip 69 may be marked with a legendsuch as the word salt and the lower surface may have the word salt plusthe particular brand of salt, so that the user does not see a particularbrand name and yet such is printed upon the shopping list duringoperation of the device.

It will be seen that the present invention provides a new and improvedregistering apparatus or mechanism for printing such lists as a shoppinglist. The device represents considerable advancement over the pad andpencil memorandum or the peg and board type of shopping reminder. Noadvertising need appear on mechanism itself, thereby in no wayinterfering with a harmonious appearance of any kitchen. Use of the padis practically effortless, a button being merely pressed for each itemto be noted. The position of the actuating device tells at a glancewhether or not an item has been ordered.

The shopping memorandum is available at an instants notice by releasingthe actuating members or plungers, withdrawing the paper, and tearing itagainst a cutting edge. The memorandum sheet itself contains the firstappearance of advertising matter confronting the housewife. Advertisingon the memorandum sheet itself is not objectionable since it is notdisplayed to view on the device in a kitchen. Only those items actuallynoted to be purchased are recorded on the shopping list, therebyproviding a shopping list which is easily read. The parts of thismechanism may be readily manufactured largely from synthetic moldingmaterials.

As various changes may be made the form, construction and arrangement ofthe parts herein without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention and without sacrificing any of its advantages, it is to beunderstood that all matter herein is to be interpreted as illustratiiand not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A recording device of the class described comprising a cover member,a plurality of printing strips carried by said cover member adjacent theunderside thereof with type characters thereon facing downwardly, a basemember, means adapted to support a sheet of carbon paper and a sheet ofpaper intermediate said printing strips and base member, push-rods onefor each printing strip guidingly carried by said base member andadapted for endwise movement, and cooperating camming surfaces on saidpush-rods and base member adapted to effect transverse movement of apush-rod toward its respective printing strip upon endwise actuation ofa push-rod 8 whereby said sheets of paper are pressed into printingrelationship with a printing strip and a reproduction of characters on aprinting strip formed on said sheet of paper.

2. A recording device of the class described comprising a cover member,a plurality of printing strips carried by said cover member adjacent theundersid thereof with type characters thereon facing 01 a. base member,means pivotaily con eenn said cover and base members providing memberswith aspect to each other, means adapted to support a sheet of carbonpaper and a sheet of paper intermediate said printing strips and basemember, push-rods one for each printing strip guidi? 1y carried by saidbase member and adapted for endwise movement, and cooperating cammingsurfaces on said push-rods and base member adapted to effect transversemovement of a ush-rod toward its respective printing strip upon endwiseactuation of a push-rod whereby said sheets of paper are pressed intoprinting relationship with a printing strip and a repror" .ion ofcharacters on a printing strip formed on said sheet of paper.

3. A recording device of the class described comprising a cover member,a plurality of printing strips carried by said cover member adjacent 1eunderside thereof with type characters thereon facing downwardly, meansfor removably mounting said printing strips on the cover member, a basemember, means pivotall connecting said cover and base members providingfor opening and closing of said members with respect to each other,means adapted to support a sheet of carbon paper and a sheet of paperintermediate said printing strips and base member, push-rods one foreach printing strip guidingly carried by said base member and adaptedfor endwise movement, and cooperating camming surfaces on said push-rodsand base member adapted to effect transverse movement of a push-rodtoward its respective printing strip upon endwise actuation of apush-rod whereby said sheets of paper are pressed into printingrelationship with a printing strip and a reproduction of characters on aprinting strip formed on said sheet of paper.

4. A recording device of the class described comprising a cover member,a plurality of printing strips carried by said cover member adjacent theunderside thereof with type characters thereon facing downwardly, a basemember, means adapted to support a sheet of carbon paper and a sheet ofpaper intermediate said printing strips and base member, push-rods onefor each printing strip guidingly carried by said base member andadapted for endwise movement, and cooperating camming surfaces on saidpush-rods and base member, wherein the camming surfaces compriseinclined surfaces on said push rods and cooperating elevations on saidbase member, adapted to effect transverse movement of a pushrod towardits respective printing strip upon endwise actuation of a push-rodwhereby said sheets of paper are pressed into printing relationship witha printing strip and a reproduction of characters on a printing stripformed on said sheet oi paper.

5. A recording device of the class described comprising a cover member,a plurality of printing strips carried by said cover member adjacent theunderside thereof with type characters thereon facing downwardly, a basemember, means adapted to support a sheet of carbon paper and sheet ofpaper intermediate said printing strips opening and clcsing of said andbase member, push-rods one for each printing strip guidingly carried bysaid base member and adapted for endwise movement, cooperating cammingsurfaces on said push-rods and base member adapted to effect transversemovement of a push-rod toward its respective printing strip upon endwiseactuation of a push-rod in one direction whereby said sheets of paperare pressed into printing relationship with a printing strip and areproduction of characters on a printing strip formed on said sheet ofpaper, and yieldable means for urging said push-rods in opposition toendwise movement in said one direction.

6. A recording device of the class described comprising a cover member,a plurality of printing strips carried by said cover member adjacent theunderside thereof with type characters thereon facing downwardly, a basemember, means adapted to support a sheet of carbon paper and a sheet ofpaper intermediate said printing strips and base member, push-rods onefor each printing strip guidingly carried by said base member andadapted for endwise movement, cooperating camming surfaces on saidpush-rods and base member adapted to efiect transverse movement of apush-rod toward its respective printing strip upon endwise actuation ofa push-rod in one direction whereby said sheets of paper are pressedinto printing relationship with a printing strip and a reproduction ofcharacters on a printing strip formed on said sheet of paper, and meansfor moving said push-rods in an opposite direction toward an initialposition.

7. A recording device of the class described comprising a cover member,a plurality of printing strips carried by said cover member adjacent theunderside thereof with type characters thereon facing downwardly, a basemember, means adapted to support a sheet of carbon paper and a sheet ofpaper intermediate said printing strips and base member, push-rods onefor each printing strip guidingly carried b said base member and adaptedfor endwise movement, each of said push-rods having an end portionprojecting outwardly beyond an edge portion of said cover member withalternate of said end portions being out of alignment with others ofsaid end portions, and cooperating camming surfaces on said push-rodsand base member adapted to efiect transverse movement of a push-rodtoward its respective printing strip upon endwise actuation of apush-rod whereby said sheets of paper are pressed into printingrelationship with a printing strip and a reproduction of characters on aprinting strip formed on said sheet of paper.

OSWIN C. MOLL.

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